[Rezension von: Maqrānī, ʿAdnān$cal-, 1966-, Toward an Islamic theology of nonviolence : in dialogue with René Girard]
It can easily be stated that Mokrani’s book is an interesting and successful attempt to study Islamic sources in light of the mimetic theory (mimesis), since he shows that it offers a universal theory of religion and is not only related to Christianity. The great contemporary French American thinker...
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Journal of Islamic studies
Year: 2024, Volume: 35, Issue: 2, Pages: 246-250 |
| Review of: | Toward an Islamic theology of nonviolence (East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, 2022) (Cuciniello, Antonio)
Toward an Islamic theology of nonviolence ([Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar] : Michigan State University Press, 2022) (Cuciniello, Antonio) Toward an Islamic theology of nonviolence (East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, 2022) (Cuciniello, Antonio) |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Girard, René 1923-2015
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| Further subjects: | B
Reseña
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | It can easily be stated that Mokrani’s book is an interesting and successful attempt to study Islamic sources in light of the mimetic theory (mimesis), since he shows that it offers a universal theory of religion and is not only related to Christianity. The great contemporary French American thinker René Girard, in fact, developed this anthropological theory that provides a powerful explanation of the relationships between violence, the sacred, and the origin of human cultures, with obvious philosophical implications.1 Girard’s reflections focused on three main ideas: the mimetic desire, the scapegoat mechanism, the ability of the text of the Bible to reveal both one and the other.2 The heart of mimetic theory is the specific relationship between mimetic desire and violence. Actually, in the Book of Genesis, desire is represented as mimetic: the snake incites Eve to eat the apple and Adam, through the mediation of his wife, desires the same object. It is an evident mimetic chain. Similarly, in Cain’s murder of Abel there is a mimetic rivalry which in turn is the main source of violence. Obviously, it should be noted that imitation does not lead exclusively to violence, since the ability to imitate allows human beings to learn and reproduce models of behaviour appropriate to life in society. However, the fact remains that the models that guide desire are always liable to become obstacles, especially if dealing with real individuals placed on the same level of social existence as the subject of desire. Finally, the invention of the sacred is interpreted as the result of the sacralization of cathartic phenomena of expulsion of violence at the expense of an ‘expiatory victim’ unanimously rejected by the group. Indeed, Girard argues that: ‘All religious rituals spring from the surrogate victim, and all the great institutions of mankind, both secular and religious, spring from ritual … . It could hardly be otherwise, for the working basis of human thought, the process of "symbolization", is rooted in the surrogate victim.’3 |
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| ISSN: | 1471-6917 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Islamic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jis/etad060 |
